National Roundup

California
Lori Loughlin released after prison term in college scam
(AP) — “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin was released from prison Monday after spending two months behind bars for paying half a million dollars in bribes to get her two daughters into college.

Loughlin was released from the federal lockup in Dublin, California, where she had been serving her sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scheme, the federal Bureau of Prisons said.
Her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, is serving his five-month sentence at a prison in Lompoc near Santa Barbara, California.

Loughlin and Giannulli were both initially supposed to report to prison on Nov. 19, but prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed Loughlin could start her sentence on Oct. 30. Loughlin also agreed that she would not seek early release on coronavirus-related grounds, prosecutors said.

Giannulli is scheduled to be released on April 17, the Bureau of Prisons says.

Loughlin and Giannulli were among the highest-profile defendants charged in the scheme, which revealed the lengths to which some wealthy parents will go to get their children into elite universities.

The famous couple admitted in May to paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits even though neither girl was a rower. Their guilty plea was a stunning reversal for the couple, whose lawyers had insisted for a year were innocent and accused investigators of fabricating evidence against them.

The only public comments either Loughlin or Giannulli made about the case since their arrest last year came at their sentencing hearings in August. Loughlin told the judge her actions “helped exacerbate existing inequalities in society” and pledged to do everything in her power to use her experience as a “catalyst to do good.”

Their younger daughter, social media influencer Olivia Jade, made her first public remarks about the scandal this month on the series “Red Table Talk.” Olivia Jade said she doesn’t want or deserve pity.

“We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like, ‘I recognize I messed up.’ And for so long I wasn’t able to talk about this because of the legalities behind it,” she said.

Of the nearly 60 parents, coaches and others charged in the case, about a dozen are still fighting the allegations. The sentences for the parents who have pleaded so far in the case range from a couple weeks to nine months.

Virginia
Deputy is fired after comments were posted on social media
MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — A sheriff’s deputy in Virginia has been fired after authorities said that “disturbing comments” were posted by his account on a conservative social media website.

The Washington Post reports that the Prince William County sheriff’s office announced the firing on Saturday.

The former deputy said that he didn’t make the comments and that his account was hacked.

Prince William Sheriff Glendell Hill said he promptly launched an internal investigation after becoming aware of the comments on Christmas morning.

The comments had advocated violence, including against U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for allowing the dismissal of a case seeking to overturn presidential election results.

“I find them very despicable, and that’s why I took the action that I took,” Hill told The Washington Post. “I certainly don’t approve of that, and, of course, it’s against our policy.”

The deputy, Aaron Hoffman, told the newspaper that he did not post those comments. He said the account he opened on the website Parler was hacked.

“I did not make those posts,” Hoffman said. “I’m trying to figure out who did.”

Hoffman was employed by the county sheriff’s office for 15 years. He said he closed the Parler account after he noticed suspicious activity on his email.

He disavowed the messages attributed to him and said he plans to consult with attorneys about his firing.

Georgia
Atlanta’s homicide count rises to highest in decades
ATLANTA (AP) — The Christmas weekend shooting death of a 16-year-old girl at an Atlanta hotel caused the city’s homicide count to rise to the highest it’s been in more than two decades.

The teenager’s death Saturday marked the city’s 154th slaying of 2020, police spokesman Anthony Grant told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Her death was one of three that detectives investigated in less than 24 hours as police and city leaders try to combat a surge in violent crime.

The last time the city’s homicide count was this high was in 1998, when the department investigated 154 deaths, records show. With several days left before the new year, however, 2020’s homicide count could surpass that. The Atlanta Police Department investigated 99 homicides in 2019.

“I am deeply concerned about the spike that we are seeing in our homicides,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms recently told the newspaper, “not just our homicides, but also with our aggravated assaults.”

The deadly holiday period began Christmas morning when officers discovered a man’s body at a southeast Atlanta park. He was found about 5 a.m. with multiple stab wounds, investigators said.

About six hours later, police were called to a home in southwest Atlanta, where officers found an unconscious man with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a hospital, but later died of his injuries, authorities said.

Investigators haven’t released the identity of any of the victims.

The latest slaying occurred about 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Officers found the injured girl, who was not conscious or breathing. She was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

“Preliminary investigation suggests that the victim was inside of a room at the Hyatt Regency with a juvenile male companion,” Grant said. “A verbal dispute occurred between both parties which resulted in the juvenile male fatally shooting the victim.”

The male suspect, also 16, was arrested on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault, reckless conduct and possession of a pistol by persons under the age of 18, police said. He is being held at the Metro Regional Youth Detention Center. It was unknown if he has an attorney who could comment.

All three slayings remain under investigation.